Forthright Magazine
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Straight to the Cross
"Brought tears to my eyes," wrote one reader of the
latest Conversion Story.
http://forthrightpress.com/conversion/
COLUMN: FINAL PHASE
When at First You Don't Succeed ...
by J. Randal Matheny
Today, I'm telling one on my wife, with her
permission.
Some years back, after long encouragement from me,
Vicki accepted an invitation to speak at a
women's retreat here in Brazil. She was
comfortable with children's classes, one-on-one,
and small groups. She did not like the idea of
speaking to large audiences.
At my encouragement, however, she took on the
challenge.
She was not happy with the results. She came home
and said, "You're the public speaker in this
family. Never again will I do this!"
I kept quiet.
Months later, believing that she shouldn't close
any door that the Lord presented to her, Vicki
prayed that, if he wanted to use her in public
teaching, he would send invitations to speak.
The invitations started pouring in.
First, to a small church's ladies's day. Then,
to a large church's ladies' day. Later, to the
largest women's retreat in the country.
And the phone continued to ring with more
invitations.
This weekend she returned by invitation to speak
at the same retreat where she had her first,
negative experience. She felt especially
challenged, remembering the negative feelings
after that unpleasant experience.
But she faced the 140 women on Sunday and spoke
for 45 minutes on her assigned topic.
Afterwards, she received two invitations to repeat
her message and two queries about possible dates.
In spite of a rough start, Vicki learned from the
experience, left herself open to new areas of
service, and persevered when he placed
opportunities before her, to quickly become a
sought-after speaker on spiritual and biblical
themes.
Others recognized in her what I already knew, that
she had much wisdom and a captivating manner to
offer to many women.
Here's the lesson in this story.
Don't conclude, after an initial fumble, that you
are not called to a certain service. Persevere,
pick yourself up, and try again. Ask why it
didn't work the first time, find someone to give
you a hand on your second try. Put the matter in
the Lord's hands. And go again, if he opens doors
for you.
You may just be the blessing that someone needs.
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